Helping Hand Nominees -- Group Category

Science Reference has been down a position all year and was having difficulty covering all the desk hours.

How did the nominee help you in the situation you described in the previous question's answer?

Both Christian and Cynthia went through a two month, intensive training period learning the basics of reference. They met with various of the Reference Staff once per week to discuss reference resources, answered a set of challenging questions and worked with the trainee on the desk. After the initial training period, they each take one shift per week on the reference desk and fill in at over times as needed when their department's schedules' allowed.

What was the outcome of the aforementioned situation?

Both Chris and Cynthia have become enthusiastic about attending library school. In fact Cynthia has already started classes and Chris is considering programs. They are both able to work on the reference desk independently. The training period brought about a greater understanding of access services responsibilities and philosophies for reference staff and vice versa for them understanding reference policies and philosophies.
The cooperation has also cemented the Science Library staff into a more cohesive team.

(Optional) What might have happened had the nominee not helped?

Greater stress for the regular reference staff as they try to cover teaching classes and cover the desk hours.; Both Christian and Cynthia are leaders within their respective units of their departments. They both have a strong sense of service. They are both committed to their jobs and this cross-training opportunity has broadened their knowledge and desire to represent the libraries well.

What was the specific situation that required special/emergency help.

Thanksgiving Luncheon!!! There are many unsung heroes who help with the Thanksgiving Luncheon every year, but in all honesty, the Thanksgiving Luncheon 2002 would not have been a success without Susan Byers, Emily Giles, Cheryl Hinson, [Kelly Holt, Samantha Mattox,] Christine Pesch and Jasmine Rizer.

As anyone who has been to the Thanksgiving Luncheon knows, a line starts forming about 30 minutes before the scheduled lunchtime. Rumor has it that some people don't eat for the whole month of November in order to have a good appetite. So, having a good Thanksgiving Luncheon is a major event for LSA and the Libraries. The Thanksgiving Luncheon is time to get together as a whole, enjoy some good food and company.

How did the nominee help you in the situation you described in the previous question's answer?

At this particular Thanksgiving Luncheon, a near disaster was averted. Although the stuffing for the Thanksgiving Luncheon was supposed to be cooked, upon delivery, kitchen volunteers discovered that it was uncooked. The Dean Rusk Center does not have an oven and there was exactly 1 1/2 hours until the festivities started. Not enough time to get 10 family sized pans of cooked stuffing from anywhere. One desperate phone call later and in for the rescue are Susan Byers, Emily Giles, Cheryl Hinson, Christine Pesch, Jasmine Rizer to cook the stuffing and re-deliver it to the Dean Rusk Center kitchen.

Although many of them had volunteered earlier in the day, they came back over to the Dean Rusk Center, collected the stuffing, and cooked it in the Main Library staff room oven and THEN to top it off, when several clean-up volunteers didn't show up some of the same folks came back over to help with cleanup.

What was the outcome of the aforementioned situation?

So Thanksgiving Luncheon 2002 was saved, all thanks to some helping hands named Susan Byers, Emily Giles, Cheryl Hinson, [Kelly Holt, Samantha Mattox,] Christine Pesch and Jasmine Rizer.